On 7 March 2014 at Parliament House in Canberra, Alex Oliver gave a Senate Occasional Lecture on Australian attitudes to democracy. A series of Lowy Institute Polls conducted in Australia and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region have uncovered a striking ambivalence about the ideal of democracy as the most preferable form of government. Alex examines these findings in the context of various studies both in Australia and other parts of the world, and attempts to draw some conclusions about the reasons for this trend, and what it may mean for Australia.

On 7 March 2014 at Parliament House in Canberra, Alex Oliver gave a Senate Occasional Lecture on Australian attitudes to democracy. A series of Lowy Institute Polls conducted in Australia and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region have uncovered a striking ambivalence about the ideal of democracy as the most preferable form of government. Alex examines these findings in the context of various studies both in Australia and other parts of the world, and attempts to draw some conclusions about the reasons for this trend, and what it may mean for Australia.